Moderates rage against the government’s alcohol proposal

Moderates rage against the government’s proposal on farm sales of alcohol.

The anger is directed at Social Affairs Minister Jakob Forssmed (KD).

– The proposal from the Ministry of Social Affairs is provocative, insufficient and unacceptable, says Member of Parliament Mats Green, member of the Business Committee.

The issue of farm sales of alcohol is seen as a freedom reform for the Moderates and is something close to Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s heart.

– Of course, you should be able to buy a few bottles of beer from Swedish farm breweries as well. With us, freedom is always a little bigger, he said in his Almedal speech this summer. A promise that generated the most applause of all the messages in Kristersson’s speech.

The issue is handled by the Ministry of Social Affairs, where Social Affairs Minister Jakob Forssmed (KD) is the responsible minister. According to sources for Aftonbladet, Forssmed has recently produced a draft of a bill that the moderate parliamentary group has been given a copy of.

However, the proposal is far from the freedom reform that M’s members want.

“Totally unacceptable”

According to information to Aftonbladet, it is proposed that drinks over 15 percent may not be sold on farms. It must also be required that farms have a production of grain or cultivation of raw materials, which very few breweries or distilleries have.

Mats Green (M), member of the Business Committee, disagrees with the criticism when Aftonbladet reaches him.

– I was born and raised in the same area as Jakob Forssmed. It is a special climate zone at the Eastern Vätterbranterna where it is now possible to produce wine and other spirits, such as traditional punch. This proposal would make it impossible to sell it. It is completely unacceptable. It disadvantages the countryside, the hospitality industry and some of our genuine Swedish cultural traditions, he says.

Assuming that Forssmed backs down

Oliver Rosengren, member of parliament and chairman of M in Kronoberg, says that as a candidate for parliament he made a promise to a distillery in Ljungby that they would be allowed to sell their gin outside Systembolaget.

– I am very skeptical that I will let Jakob Forssmed prevent me from fulfilling it. The investigation was too restrictive. A lot should be ironed out there. It is unacceptable if the Christian Democrats now come up with further restrictions, he says.

The government has carried out an investigation into farm sales, on which the proposal is based. Both Green and Rosengren believe that the investigation was too restrictive. Now the possibilities for farm sales have been blocked even more, they believe.

– If this is not a bad joke, it is clear that Forssmed’s goal is to exclude distilleries and breweries.

A question of freedom

An argument against allowing farm sales on a larger scale is that it would mean the end of Systembolaget. Mats Green doesn’t buy that argument.

– There is not a single example in the history of the EU where various exemptions from national retail monopolies have meant that the monopoly has fallen. I think it is remarkable that a government minister, who should know better, claims that the inquiry’s proposal could threaten the monopoly, he says.

A heavy M source says that the issue is so important to the Moderates that there will be a battle between the Moderates and the Christian Democrats if the proposal is not withdrawn.

– We will not swallow this. This is an important issue from many perspectives, not least for rural areas. It is also a matter of freedom, says the source.

Aftonbladet has applied for Jakob Forssmed (KD).

FACT Farm sale of alcohol

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